The web which is produced on a papermaking machine sometimes includes holes which result from the formation process or because of contaminants which come into contact with the web. These holes can cause web tears, wrinkles, and coating, printing and converting problems.
The conventional way to eliminate these holes from the web involves making two parallel transverse cuts through the web on either side of the hole and removing the cut out portion and splicing the web back together, e.g. using a double or single side adhesive coated tape. This conventional method has several disadvantages including downtime resulting in bottlenecks, waste which must be recycled, possibility of wrinkles at the splice, and the need for changing line tension in roll formation which can result in production slow down.